Moistening device for gummed tape and the like



March 30, 1954 A, c HUMMEL 2,673,547

MOISTENING DEVICE FOR GUMMED TAPE AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 29, 1951 1 N VEN TOR bmz/ar U fi/r/MMEA AWOENEYS' Patented Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE MOISTENING DEVICE FOR GUMMED TAPE AND THE LIKE August 0.Hummel, CincinnatL Ohio ApplicationAugust-Zi), 1951, Serial No. 244,144

4 Claims.

My invention relates toa moistener or-moistening brush for use inmoisteners of the type wherein a brush isimmersed ina fluid with thebristle ends projecting above the surface of the fluid so, that bycapillary action, the fluid will flow to. the bristle ends and maintainthem in a moistened condition. Brushes ofthis type are used in manydevices where it is desired to entirely moisten a surfaceand in devicesfor moistening gummed tape, envelope flaps and fingers. Such a device isshown in my copending application Serial'No. 148,535; filed March 9,1951, now Patent No. 2,575,495 and entitled Brush Moistener and in myissued Patent No. 2,000,287, May 7, 1935.

In a moistening brush of the type to which this invention relates, it isnecessary that the bristle ends at all times be sufficiently damp ormoist to liquefy the gum on the tape or surface to be moistened. Whilethe moistening brush as shown in my copending application and patent setforth above is perfectly satisfactory under ordinary conditions where itis necessary to moisten gummed tape or the like very rapidly and inrather long lengths the action of the tape passing over the brush is aptto remove the moisture from the end of the brush more rapidly than thecapillary action of the brush refills these bristle ends. This isparticularly true when the liquid in the container in which the brush ispositioned becomes relatively low so that the liquid has to travel arelatively great distance up the bristles to reach the brush end. Ifinsuflicient liquid is maintained in the tip of the. brush to keep anygum deposit on the brush in a diluted state, the gum will set and hardenthe entire end of the brush which will, of. course,

retard the natural capillary action of the liquid to, the tape andresult in poor moistening and also require numerous cleanings orwashings of the brush to remove this hardened gum.

It is an object of my invention to provide a moistening brush whereinthe capillary action of the bristles is enhanced so that the end of thebrush is fed liquid very rapidly and in a sufficient quantity tomaintain itin av moist condition at all times. and no matter how fast orhow long thesurface to be moistened is fed over the brush end or how lowthe liquid level in the container becomes.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a moistening brushwhich is adaptable foruse in practically any moistenerormoistenlngdevice wherein liquid is brought from a well bycapillaryaction tothesuriaceoii the material to be moistened.

A further object of my invention is. to, provide a. moistening brushwherein liquid is brought by capillary attraction up theside or face.of; the brush to a point slightly below the bristle ends so that it maybe in. its turn picked up by, the capillary action of the bristles at arelatively short distance from the brush end.

Another object of my invention is toprovide a moistening brush with. allof the above features which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture andwhich to some extent is interchange,- able with moistening brushesormoistening devices heretofore upon themarket. These andother objectsof my invention which will be set forth hereinafter orwill be. apparentto one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, Iaccomplish by that certain con;- struction and arrangement of parts ofwhich I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is nowmade to the drawings which form a part thereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a cross section of a typical moistener including my novelbrush.

Figure 2 is a perspective view'of the moistening pad whichsupplementsthebrush.

Figure 3 is an exploded side elevation of the complete brush assembly.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the brush portion ofthe assembly.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the stiffeningsheet used in conjunction with my novel brush assembly.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide a brush formed of aflat assembly of bristles backed up by a stiffening sheet which isusually fastened to the base in which the bristles are embedded. A brushof this type is adapted to be inserted within a container holdingliquid. The base of the brush and a portion of the bristles are immersedin the. fluid with the bristle ends projecting out of the fluid. Bycapillary action the fluid flows upwardly through the bristles of thebrush to the end, thus moistening the brush end while the stiffeningsheet maintains thebrush in a stiffened condition, although it m e aurate h luid: While the capillary action, of the bristles insures thefluid arriving at the brush tip. this capillary action is relativelyslow, particularly when the level of the fluid is low and merely coversa portion of the brush adjacent its base. In order to assure therapidity of the fiowl of fluid to the brush end, I- provide asubstantially flat sheet of spongy material of. relatively coarse con:

struction between the. stiffening Sheet and the bristles of the brush.The lower portion of the spongy sheet projects into the fluid and bycapillary action the pores of the sponge are filled with fluid, thusproviding a source of fluid along the side of the bristled brush abovethe fluid level and nearly to the tip of the brush. Thus, the fluidenters the brush from the spongy material by capillary action and sincethe source is near the tip of the brush, the fluid does not have as farto flow as would be the case where it must flow from the base of thebrush along its full length to the end. Another advantage of the sheetof spongy material between the stiffening sheet and the bristles insuresa direct flow of fluid into the tip of the brush when the tip is pressedor squeezed during its operation.

Referring to the drawings, the bristle brush is shown at l and thestiffening sheet at 2. Preferably, the base of the bristles l areembedded in a base 3.

The stiffening sheet 2 is clamped to the base 3 in the exemplaryembodiment by means of a short piece of angle material 4 which is heldin place by the blades 5.

A sheet of spongy material 6 is as wide as the bristle assembly I and isof sufficient length to run from the base 3 of the brush to near thebristle ends I. The sheet of spongy material 6 may be formed of spongerubber, natural sponge or relatively coarse, porous cellulose acetate.The sheet 6 may be a flat piece, i, e. the same thickness throughout, orit may be slightly tailored as shown in Figure 2. The base portion maybe sandwiched between the base of the stiffening sheet 2 and the base 3and held in place by the same bracket 4 and blades which hold thestiffening sheet against the brush.

In operation, the base 3 and its assembly is placed in the containerbelow the liquid line 1 as shown in Figure 1. The stiffening sheet 2rests against the lip 8 of the container 9. In this way, the free end ofthe brush l projects above the container 9 and any surface to bemoistened is passed over the bristle end I.

My novel brush can be used in any type of moistener where liquid from acontainer or well is fed to a surface to be moistened.

Of course, it is understood that in the embodiment described andillustrated, the container 9 is shown more or less conventionally, sincefingers or other mechanism may be positioned on top of the container 9to guide gummed tape, envelope flaps and the like across the free moistend I of the brush I.

As is apparent, a downward pressure on the brush end I will squeeze thespongy sheet 5 and force moisture directly into the bristles l. However,under normal conditions, the fluid is fed into the bristle ends I fromthe spongy sheet 6 by capillary action and hence the spongy sheet 6, ineffect, acts as a liquid reservoir extending substantially the fulllength of the brush 2.

From the above, it is apparent that I have provided a moistening brushwhich remains moist at all times and which fills rapidly, thuspermitting the moistening of long strips of gummed tape and the likerapidly without tending to dry out the tip of the brush or resorting tothe use of two or more brushes in place of one as is done in the case ofsome devices wherein long strips are moistened.

It is to be understood that modification may be made in my inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof, and I do not intend to limitscribed comprising a myself otherwise than as pointed out in the claimswhich follow.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. A brush mcistener for use wherein a gummed surface to be moistened isactivated by being contacted with the projecting upper end of themoistener, said moistener consisting of a brush formed from a flatassembly of bristles projecting from a base adapted to be immersed in amoistening liquid, a stiffening sheet formed of thin resilientlyflexible material projecting from said base and extending substantiallyparallel to one face side of said assembly of bristles, and a layer ofpliable and elastic spongy material sandwiched between said stiffeningsheet and said bristle assembly, said layer of spongy material beingsubstantially greater in thickness than said flexible stiffening sheetbut of less thickness than said bristle assembly, said stiffening sheetand said layer of spongy material terminating near but short of theupper edge of said bristle assembly with said flexible sheet extendingbeyond the end of said layer of spongy material, whereby to provide amoistener in which the gummed surface being moistened may contact thebristles of the brush without contacting the said stiffening sheet andspongy layer, and wherein the said stiffening sheet is adapted to becontacted intermediate its upper and lower ends by a support so thatpressure applied to the assembly of bristles will cause flexing of saidstiffening sheet acting to squeeze the said layer of spongymaterialbetween said bristle assembly and the said flexed stiffeningsheet, thereby causing the s lid spongy-material to give up moisteningliquid to the bristles of said brush.

2. A moistening device for the purposes decontainer for holdingmoistening liquid, a brush formed of a flat assembly of bristlesprojecting from a base positioned within the container below the liquidlevel thereof with the free ends of the bristle assembly projectingabove the top of the container, a stiffening sheet formed of thinresiliently flexible material projecting from said base and extendingsubstantially parallel to one face side of said bristle assembly, and alayer of elastic and pliable spongy material sandwiched between saidstiffening sheet and said bristle assembly, said layer of spongymaterial being substantially greater in thickness than said flexiblestiffening sheet but of less thickness than said bristle assembly, saidstiffening sheet and said layer of spongy material terminating near butshort of the upper edge of said bristle assembly, whereby a gummedsurface brought into contact with said bristles will be free fromcontact with said stiffening sheet and said layer of spongy material,and a supporting member contacting said stiffening sheet intermediatethe upper and lower ends thereof, whereby pressure applied to the saidbristle assembly by the contact of a gummed surface therewith willresult in the flexing of said stiffening sheet in the direction of saidbristle assembly so as to squeeze the said layer of spongy materialbetween the stiffening sheet and the bristle assembly, thereby causingthe said layer of spongy material to give up moistening liquid to thebristle assembly.

3. The moistening device claimed in claim 2 wherein said supportingmember makes horizontally disposed line contact with said stiffening s et. a

5 4. The moistening device claimed in claim 2 wherein said supportingmember makes horizontally disposed line contact with said stififeningsheet and wherein said supporting member comprises a Wall of saidcontainer.

AUGUST C. HUMMEL.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Uttz, Sr. Aug. 27, 1929 I NumberNumber Name Date Hummel May 7, 1935 Hoitt May 2, 1944 Hummel Apr. 18,1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia Dec. 23, 1942

